So apparently a new trend is emerging in the good ol’ East, a trend that might just surpass all other WTF trends this year, and that is hiring strippers to dance at a funeral. This form of entertainment has become such a big deal that the Ministry of Culture released a statement stating that the government plans to work closely with the police to curb such performances.

Why would anyone hire a bunch of strippers to perform at a funeral? To draw more mourners of course! This is seen as good fortune for the afterlife, and after some of the lives we lead we might need all the good fortune we can get for the afterlife! So can’t hurt to try eh?

However, not everyone is pleased with the whole strip at the funeral gig. After a bunch of pictures with a stripper removing her bra in front of staring adults and children started circulating the net, it would seem that the Chinese Government has had enough. Citing the performances as “obscene” they have pledged to crack down on such last rites.

They have been trying to fight the whole funeral stripper ‘scourge’ for some time now, especially since the expose by China Central Television in 2006. They found scantily clad women making appearances at memorial services in Donghai, eastern China’s Jiangsu province – in order to attract as many people to the funeral as possible, “It’s to give them face,” one villager explained. “Otherwise no one would come.”

The broadcast station found dozens of ‘performance troupes’ offering their services and putting on as many as 20 shows a month at the rate of 2,000 yuan ($322) a show.

“This has severely polluted the local cultural life,” CCTV said, while marveling at the sight of a young scantily clad woman dancing a mere feet away from the photo of the deceased. “These troupes only care about money. As for whether it’s legal, or proper, or what effect it has on local customs, they don’t think much about it.”

However this trend isn’t only affecting Mainland China. Turns out their neighbors Taiwan have been doing this for ages! National Geographic even made a documentary about it in 2012.

The above clip is from Marc L. Moskowitz’s film titled Dancing for the Dead: Funeral Strippers in Taiwan.

I mean, there is an element of tastelessness to this whole thing, but at the same time, they seem to be doing it so that the deceased will have a better afterlife. And what can you say to someone who only wants the best for their loved ones right? I dunno, what do you guys think about it?